Primeval: Timing is Everything
by YouMustUseTheForce
Summary: When Aisling follows a mysterious message from her brother,she finds herself at the location of the ARC's newest anomaly and at the beginning of a very long adventure. Long chapters, horrible at summaries! : Enjoy!


**I DO NOT own anything from Primeval, only my original characters and the story line.**

**Enjoy!**

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Primeval: Timing is Everything

Written by: YouMustUseTheForce

Based on the original series: Primeval

Episode 1

A long list of unread emails sat quietly in the congested inbox. But one, the newest one, was the most important and long overdue. The small title bar read 'From Balin…To Aisling Sry this took so long.' A mouse moved and opened the email, hovering impatiently over an ad as the computer loaded. After what felt like an hour the email opened revealing a video link. Once again the link took far too long to load. A box popped up and started playing the video.

The screen flickered slightly as a young man with reddish brown hair came into focus. The red date stamp declared that it was June 29th, 2006. He adjusted his thick-rimmed glasses and smiled at the camera. Behind him, a blank wall that created an almost angelic glow off his pale skin. For a second he sat motionless, taking a deep breath, almost as if he was choosing his words carefully.

"Aisling…" He started "You asked how the weather was and as you see" the camera turned and caught the glare of bright sunlight "It's beautiful out. I'm glad you're doing well across the pond. I know in your last video you complained about how long it's taking me to get back to you. But…I think I might have got something over here." His tone was casual but uncomfortable, as if he danced around a subject he didn't want to talk about. "Anyways, congratulations on the College acceptance! I heard your coming to join me over here in Jolly Old' England. My history nerd little sister… I'm prou…"

A loud thump followed by a buzzing noise resounded in the small room where he was sitting. With an impatient sigh he turned off the camera. The screen went dark for a moment, and then lit up again. This time the man, dressed in a different shirt, ran a hand through his hair. The date stamp on the corner of the screen showed it was now over a week later: July 7th, 2006.

"Sorry about that. Listen…" He sat closer to the camera, his face serious and pensive. "You need to do something for me Aisling. On April 10th, 2010 go to the Lamb. It's a pub in London. 94 Lambs Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, London. Just…" Uneasily he tapped his fingers together "Go out for a nice drink, about 6 o'clock. But…" his voice was struggling to find the right words, rushed and almost panicked "by yourself. I know I must sound crazy but you have to trust me, you might even have fun. When you get there…" Another loud buzzing sound filled the room. He looked over his shoulder then back at the camera. "I have to go now but….Love you Aisling…Talk…talk to you soon." The young man added awkwardly at the end then shut off the camera. The screen went blank.

The next day Balin Cooper, age 23, died in a car collision, a suspected hit and run. The other car was never found.

The last lines echoed in Aisling's head as she walked to the Lamb. It was a long time since she had been able to watch that video, but she had never forgotten her brother's instructions. The Lamb…April 10th, 2010…6 o'clock…alone. If Balin were here right now she would have laughed at him, called him crazy, and ask why on earth he was telling her to do this. But things were a lot different now.

Before she knew it, Aisling stood at the door of the Lamb. What was she expecting? Why did Balin want her here on this day? Everyone asked her what she was expecting by going, and advised her against it. 'It won't bring him back…' they said…and they were right. With a deep breath she pushed open the doors and stepped inside, a small bell ringing happily as the door closed behind her, a moment she had been waiting for four years. To her disappointment, it was incredibly anticlimactic. A few men sat at the bar and a quit bar tender cleaned out a glass. Silently she sat at the bar, waiting for…_something_ to happen.

"What can I get you dear?" The bar tender, a middle aged man with a receding hairline, waved at her.

"A coke please, with just a little rum." Aisling smiled. Her American accent seemed noticeably out of place. The bar tender nodded and grabbed a glass.

She watched as he mixed her drink. As children Aisling and Balin were close, even though he was about three years older than her. There was a time where she would have followed him to the ends of the earth, maybe that's why she decided to come here today.

"And what brings you here today?" The balding man put the drink down in front of Aisling. His deep Scottish accent snapped her back to reality.

"Lunacy…" she smiled and took a sip.

Red lights flashed as the alarm sounded throughout the ARC. Connor Temple threw down his cards on the table and looked up at Abby and Captain Becker.

"One quite day…just one. It would be a blessing." He sighed and got up, waiting for the computer to put a lock on the anomaly. "And….I was winning."

"Sure you were…" Jess sat in front of the main computer and looked up at Connor then looked at the screen.

"Someone's a sore loser!" Abby Maitland called from the table as she stacked the cards back into a pile and smiled.

"_I had a good hand_!" Connor called back, not looking away from the screen. He and Jess had been working on upgrading the computer system, and so far they were making some very helpful changes.

Becker picked up Connor's cards and raised an eyebrow "Not quite…" The computer beeped a few times and a map flashed on the screen, pinpointing the location of the newest anomaly.

"Well…We don't keep Connor around for his astounding card playing ability." Lester stood at the door and looked at the crew. Having Connor and Abby back made him ten times more confident in their ability to handle the anomalies, even though he would never admit it.

Connor pointed his finger at Lester, his eyes still glued to the screens "You know…" He seemed to change his mind and hit a few keys "It looks like we have an anomaly…_in_…_a_…pub!" He smiled at Jess.

Becker folded his arms "Fight some primordial beasties, grab a drink." He tilted his head and smiled "Sounds like a good day."

"94 Lambs Conduit Street… Bloomsbury." Connor stepped away and nodded at his companions "Come on guys! First round's on the dinosaur!"

Abby patted Connor on the shoulder and left the room. He turned and watched her leave. It had been a couple months since they had returned to the present but their relationship didn't last long. It was a mutual decision to break everything off. "See you later Jess…" He sighed and followed Abby out "Becker, go collect Matt for a date at the Pub." Connor threw on his backpack and left the ARC, walking out to the car. When things ended with Abby, she kept the new apartment, while he took her old flat. They were still friends, best friends, and they had both agreed that things were better that way.

Abby took the driver's seat and Connor got in the car. "Ready?" She smiled and pulled out onto the street.

The Pub remained quiet as the sun slowly passed behind some clouds, casting long shadows across the floor. Aisling swirled her glass around, trying to pick a time to leave. Maybe she shouldn't have come in the first place. She sighed and put the glass down.

"What's on your mind?" The bartender leaned on his side of the bar "Someone as pretty as you should have no reason to be sad."

She smiled "Don't flatter me…" Aisling looked a lot like her brother. They both had reddish brown hair and dark green eyes that seemed to stand out on their pale skin. Though, unlike her brother's pin straight hair, Aisling's hair fell in loose curls just below her shoulders. She was slim with curves that Balin always swore developed to early. "It will just go straight to my head."

Towards the back of the pub there was a strange dull thudding noise. Aisling turned on her stool to try and see what it was but there was nothing. The bartender spoke again "Why so far away from the States?"

"Oh um…" She turned back to the man "…University…." The thudding seemed to be getting louder.

"Beauty and brains…" He smiled, but looked at the back of the pub. "Most likely the kitchen staff…." He grumbled "Always getting in to troubles back there…excuse me…" He nodded then left the bar.

Aisling smiled and took another sip of her drink. As she put her glass down, a crashing sound broke the silence. Startled, the glass slipped out of her hand and fell, smashing on the floor. Another crash soon followed. Aisling looked at the two other men who had been seated at the bar. One stared back at her, as unsure and alarmed as she was, while the other was already on his way out the door.

She stood, lifting her messenger bag off her shoulder and putting it down near her seat. Slowly she stepped toward the kitchens "Hello? Sir is everything ok?" The dull thudding continued, now mixed with crashing pots and pans. Soon she was right in front of two large metallic swinging doors. "Sir, do you need help?" Aisling placed her hand on the door. It moved slightly under her touch.

With a sudden bang, the doors flew open. Aisling was pushed on to the floor, the door now between her and whatever blew it open. Slowly she peeked around the edge. Ten or so large dragonflies flew around the pub, bumping into lamps and knocking over chairs. But large was the wrong word. Huge was more like it, bigger than any bug should be. The wings themselves had to be at least two feet long, and their skeletal legs were even longer. Aisling was glued to the spot, unable to believe what she was seeing.

The man who hadn't run had ducked under a table near the bar. He motioned to Aisling to run. Cautiously she picked herself up and readied herself, preparing to bolt through the jungle of wings and legs. She took a deep breath and ran. Long sets of legs dragged across her arms and slowed her down. It seemed like her sudden appearance had surprised the bugs, but now that they were aware of her presence, they pounced. The limp legs that she had run into were now stiff and grabbing at her clothes. Aisling screamed and dived under the bar.

"Are you ok?" From the other side she heard the other man shouted to her.

"I'm fine!" Aisling shouted back "Don't leave the table!" She looked down at her shirt, the bugs legs had ripped into the fabric.

"We need to get out!" The man said "I'll come around and get you and we can leave together! Everything to going to be fine!"

"Don't move! It's…" But before she could finish she heard the man scream…then nothing. "Are you ok?" No response. Aisling pulled herself farther under the bar.

To Aisling, it felt like hours under that bar. A low constant thumbing filled the room accompanied by the occasional sound of a chair being over turned. She looked around her, trying to find something she could use as a weapon, but trying to fight her way out with a corkscrew didn't seem like a successful escape plan.

Unexpectedly door's bell rang. It not only surprised Aisling, but the bugs as well. The thumping became slower and the movement in the room seemed to stop. The bell rang again and there was a small gasp.

"Oh! Those are big bugs…" A man said quietly.

"_Shhh_…Connor…Don't shoot. You don't want to startle them…" This time a woman spoke. Aisling moved a little, trying to hear them better.

Another different man spoke "Ok...so no shooting…Let's get them back into the anomaly…." Aisling slowly stood up, making no noise. She looked wide eyed at the small group of people and the cloud of bugs that stood between them. The enormous dragon flies floated motionlessly, staring at the newcomers.

"_Hey_…" Aisling mouthed to the small group and waved her hands.

A tall man with dark hair, who also held a rather large gun, caught sight of her and sighed. "Guys…" He signaled to the rest of the group and pointed at the girl standing behind the bar.

"Oh no…" A blond girl said softly and looked at her companions.

The man with a beard took a few steps to the bar. "Slowly…come over to me…" he held out his hand to Aisling. She shook her head no, not after what happened to man from before. "They're just bugs…nothing to worry about." With a skeptical look, Aisling hesitantly inched around the bar and slowly snuck around the bugs. She stopped when she saw the remains of the man who had tried to help her. "No…don't look at that…look at me …" The man moved a little closer to Aisling. She nodded and kept moving.

One larger bug drifted to the window and inspected it carefully. **Bonk**. It softly flew into the pain of glass then pulled back. **Bonk**. It did it again, only this time with more force. Now the bug seemed to be more annoyed that the window hadn't gave way. **Bonk!** This time it hit the window hard, bouncing back and running into another bug. The two annoyed bugs flew around, slowly whipping the other bugs into frenzy.

"Get down!" The men with the gun yelled to the others. Soon the room was filled with angry dragonflies, bouncing off chairs and lamps, sending glasses and bottles crashing to the floor. Aisling and the others lay flat on the floor as the bugs flew over them.

"What is going on?" Aisling asked them, feeling a dragonfly leg drag across her back.

"Just…a bug problem. Looks like a nest." The blond girl looked up, not meeting Aisling's eyes.

"Just a bug problem…a very large bug problem." The man with a beard said from beside Aisling.

"What kind of bugs are these exactly…not your common garden dragonflies." Aisling looked up at the bugs. Unlike normal dragonflies, these were huge. Large veins ran through the two foot wigs. "And I've never seen a dragonfly do that before!" She pointed to what remained to the man near the bar.

"Good observation…but can we talk about this later?" Said the man with the gun "I think we…" But then he stopped, looking just above Aisling. Hovering above her back was one of the giant bugs, slowly getting closer and closer to her back. "Hold still…" He maneuvered his gun around and pointed it at the large insect.

Aisling closed her eyes "No problem…" Another dragonfly joined the one above her back, then another.

"Wait!" the man with the bread held up his hand. "Look at them…"

"I don't think this is the time to admire them!" Aisling said, her eyes still closed tightly.

"It's almost like…" He pulled himself closer to Aisling and sniffed her. She pulled back a little and looked at the blond girl. "You smell." He looked triumphant.

"Is he ok?" Aisling looked around.

"You smell good…" The man said again.

"Conner I don't think that's helping right now…" The blond girl whispered, keeping an eye on the two insects above Aisling.

"It's your perfume…I think they are attracted to it." The man called Connor said "If she has more of whatever she wearing we could use it to get these guys back through the anomaly."

"We don't even know where the anomaly is Connor." The blond women said, batting away a one of the bug's legs.

"Where is what?" Aisling asked, confused.

"Kind of a long story…. But it has to be in here somewhere. Abby, Becker, go shimmy yourselves around to the back of the Pub. See if you can spot anything." Connor nodded to the others and they slowly moved across the floor. "What's your name?" Connor asked Aisling, a small smile on his face.

"Aisling…"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Connor. Do you happen to have perfume in your purse?" Connor lifted himself up a little.

"Yeh…it's over there, near the bar." Aisling pointed the small shoulder bag tucked under a bar stool. Connor nodded and slowly she and Connor moved across the floor, avoiding the dragonflies. "Do you do this a lot?"

"Let's just say it's a hobby…So where do you work Aisling?"Connor lead the way to the bag, occasionally batted away a bug.

"_What an odd pastime_…I used to work in a small museum not far from here. It closed not too long ago." Aisling reached the bag and pulled herself under the seat. For a minute she rummaged around then pulled out a small bottle of perfume. "Here…"she took off her jacket and handed it to Conner.

"I don't think it's my size…"

"It matches your eyes…" Aisling smiled and pulled out her perfume "Now where do you need these things to go?"

"Right…" Connor took out a cell phone "Abby have you found it? Good….Right…" He hung up and looked at Aisling. "In the kitchen…"

Aisling nodded and sprayed the coat with her perfume. "I think that's enough." She looked at Connor, but he didn't move. "This should attract the bugs…you can get them into the kitchen…"

"Good plan." Connor slowly moved from under the bar holding the jacket in front of him "Come here you giant…bugs…" Aisling and Connor shuffled across the floor slowly followed by a swarm of oversized dragonflies. Aisling held open the door to the kitchen while Connor shepherded in the bugs.

"Now what?" She called to Connor.

"Over here!" the girl, Abby, yelled to Connor, ushering him over to the back wall. Aisling followed but stopped when she saw something completely strange: A large glowing orb.

"What exactly is _that_?" Aisling stopped and pointed to the strange ball of light.

"Um…Gas leak…" Abby said, shoeing the last bug through the 'gas leak'.

About 10 minutes later Aisling leaned on a black car outside the Pub. The street had been sectioned off and lots of men in black outfits patrolled the road. Many different explanations ran though her head, each on as unbelievable as the next. She was sure this wasn't what Balin had in mind when he asked her to come today. Connor and Abby walked towards her. "How's the gas leak?"

"Being taken care of. Thanks for your help Aisling." Abby nodded.

"No problem. From the look of this operation…I shouldn't mention this to anyone?" Aisling smiled and crossed her arms.

"That would probably be for the best." Connor smiled "If we need help with anymore big bugs…we'll contact you."

Aisling laughed "Sounds good. Good luck with your...bug chasing." She adjusted her bag and started walking down the sidewalk. "I was just thinking..." She paused, turned and faced Connor and Abby "Those dragonflies looked an awful lot like a Meganeura. You know…big bugs commonly found in England _during the Paleozoic era_. Your lucky you got them through that '_gas leak_' when you did. They can't survive long in this atmosphere."

Connor looked at Abby "Why would you say that?"

"Besides the enormous size…the vein pattern in the wings is very distinctive. The veins were too big to be a feature of your average modern day Dragonfly." Aisling took a few steps closer to Connor and Abby. "I took a class on extinct life forms in college. So tell me…what's really going on here? I think I deserve to know after I could have been killed by an insect that's supposed to be extinct."

Connor ran a hand through his hair and looked around, then whispered something in Abby's ear. "You said you worked in a museum? And you studied history in school?"

"Yes, majored in history…Why?"

"Let me make a phone call…" Connor walked down the street.

"I'll pull up her file…but can't promise you anything" Lester said into his phone "we can't go around picking up people like lost puppies."

"We need someone on the team who really knows history. If we still had Sarah I wouldn't be asking but…" Connor sighed.

"Aisling Cooper. American. Graduated a year early. Top of her class. Major in History, with a double minor in Modern European and Early American. Recently unemployed." Lester scrolled through her file. "Not a trouble maker unlike some members of this team...Bring her in."

"Thank you Lester, you won't regret this!"

"I'm sure I will. No more favors Connor. My kindness quota has been filled up for the week." Lester hung up the phone.

Connor walked back over to Aisling and Abby, smiling. "Ms. Cooper, would you be interested in job?"

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**NEXT TIME**:

"Welcome to the ARC." Lester led Aisling out of his office and through a long hallway. "I guarantee there will never be a quiet day and there's always a chance that you might get killed."

...

"You like him don't you!" Jess smiled at Aisling, who didn't look up from her work.

**Out soon! Please leave a comment or send me a PM. HAPPY READING!**


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